Airgun Magazines - Questioning Their Accuracy

Precharged pneumatics (PCPs) are extremely popular these days - you've only got to look at my poll opposite to see that they get the big vote from airgunners. In particular, multi-shot PCPs are the hot-sellers in gun shops. But are the benefits of an auto-feed magazine coming at the cost of the rifle's full accuracy potential?

I beg the question following a number of discussions I've had of late with hunting friends. It seems it's not only me who has an inkling that single-shot air rifles are slightly more accurate than their multi-shot stablemates.

That said, none of us have said that our multi-shot rifles are inaccurate; and we've all hunted very successfully with them without ever questioning their ability against live quarry. But in side-by-side tests, the single-shot usually just shades it in terms of accuracy.

My two favourite hunting rifles - the Daystate Air Wolf (.177) and Theoben Elan (.22) - are very accurate when running off their auto-load mags. I have every confidence in their multi-shot set-ups. Indeed, I've run the Elan in both calibres very successfully with 7-, 12- and 17-shot magazines over the past 11 years.

Both my rifles also offer the facility to run in single-shot mode. The Wolf takes Daystate's easy-fit pellet tray and the Elan has had its breech scalloped like the S-Type so that I can feed my pellets directly into the breech by hand.

So given how much 'shooting time' I've spent with these rifles, I can confidently vouch for the fact that each of my rifles shoots tighter groups in the single-shot configuration. It's not a great difference... but there is a difference.

For instance, I know the Elan will typically group inside 25mm at 30 metres with the mag, but it's nearer 20mm when loading ammo directly into the rifling. Both results are more than good enough for hunting, of course - but it does mean that I can push the gun's effective range by five metres or so when the mag's not deployed.

And I've also noticed that mags can sometimes make the rifle far more 'pellet fussy'. A good example of this was highlighted when I was recently testing the RWS Super-H-Point ammo in my Elan. Because the SHP's got quite an 'angular' head, it obviously suffered in the transfer from the magazine's chamber to the barrel. My 30-metre groups were a good 10mm 'looser' with the magazine than when I loaded the barrel directly. In fact, I may even have discounted the SHP as a suitable round for the Elan had I only tested it with the magazine; as it was, it proved a superb diet for the Theoben when fed into the rifling directly.

Conversely, the Daystate RangeMaster - which has a much more rounded head - must 'feed' into the barrel much better as it's hard to tell the direct-loaded and auto-loaded groupings apart.

Certainly food for thought...

Vintage Webley - Suitable for Hunting?

During my 15 years as editor of Air Gunner magazine, I frequently heard from many 'older' airgunners reminiscing about the airguns of yesteryear; nearly all would say that air rifles of the past were 'far more powerful' than today's hardware. Indeed, these people would tell me of the super-long ranges they were able to despatch vermin, and of the colossal bags they made.

Being a mere whippersnapper (!), I've only ever hunted with contemporary airguns, but having recently acquired a circa 1968 Webley Mk. III underlever from my good friend, Jack Stanton, I've decided to put such claims to the test.

To many airgunners of the 1950s and 60s, the tap-loading Mk. III is held up as the 'ultimate' of all sporters - moreso than its BSA underlever rival, the Airsporter.

Mine - serial no. A625 - is a .22 and is certainly extremely accurate over my 15-yard garden range. Considering its age, the tap has a fantastic air seal and the trigger is very sweet; 19mm groups are quite achievable with the open sights - although there's also a scope rail should I need a telly to maximise accuracy over longer ranges.

I haven't chrono'd the rifle yet - but it 'feels' to be doing in the region of 9 or 10 ft. lbs.. I'll let you know of the outcome if I ultimately decide to take it into the hunting field. (Which I do expect to being doing. After all, the Mk. IIIs that Webley produced between 1947 and 1975 must have accounted for a huge head of UK vermin. Even if the ratio was one kill to one gun, it would be in the tens of thousands!)

Watch this space...

Early Season Lamping with my Cluson

Managed to get a few hours' lamping in last night. It might be early in the season for hunting rabbits by lamp-light, but this was on a big acreage of land that my mate shoots over - and he was under clear instructions from the landowner to hit the young crop of rabbits hard before the spring barley begins to break through.

Unfortunately for me, this is land that I haven't shot over in the daylight, so being 'introduced' to it in the dark was never going to be easy... and it wasn't. We only had a single rabbit to show for our few hours and (what seemed like) 10 miles of trekking around freshly turned fields.

The night was destined to return a low score. My mate, Tony Ross-Booker, remembered his lamp... but not the battery that remained charging on the kitchen sideboard!

I chose to take my Theoben Elan over the Daystate Air Wolf for a couple of reasons: (1) it's so much lighter than the Air Wolf and, I felt, would be easier for traipsing around the big area; and (2) the Wolf's MTC scope interferes with the loading port and doesn't allow a magazine to fit in... and I don't like lamping with single-shot rifles. It's too fiddly.

Of course, I've recently converted the Elan back to its original .22 calibre barrel and I must confess that I'm not 100 per cent au fait with the trajectory. Given that range-estimation is pretty difficult by lamplight, the odds were pretty much against me.

My trick was to set the Hawke 3-12 x 44 AirMax to its maximum magnification and the front P/A ring to 25m (the zero distance). That way, if the target didn't look sharp, I'd know it would either be nearer or further... and hopefully I was good enough to tell which.

For the record, at 12x mag, the cross-hairs of the SR6 'Christmas Tree' reticle work out at 30, 35 and 40 metres when the central cross-hair is set for 25m with Daystate FT ammo. (15.9 grains; power 11.1 ft. lbs.)

Also to make life easier, I'd brought along my age-old Cluson SL2/PKG Shootalite lamp... although I had to splash out £13 for a new lead-acid battery as the old one had inexplicably died over the winter. Oh well, I'd had good use out of it for the past 10 years and it's been out in all weathers without a single problem. It's still on its original bulb! Incidentally, the SL2 remains a current model - see it here.

Cluson claim the SL2 Shootalite has a 1,000-metre beam. While I can't vouch for it being 'effective' over this distance, it's certainly very powerful and can pick out rabbit eyes on the far edges of 10-acre fields no problem.

I've got a red filter fitted which you can quickly use or remove. It tends to reduce the intensity too much for me, but Tony's eyesight is better and he got on with it just fine. These rabbits, however, didn't seem to mind the white light (they haven't been lamped much).

The Clulite is a neat set-up because it comes with a separate battery pack - quite weighty - which you sling over your shoulder and connect to the lamp proper via a coiled lead. Over the years, I've always wished this was 20 or 30 cm. longer, but it's not really that much of a problem.

The kit comes with attachments to allow it to be easily mounted to your scope or to a hand-held grip (which also locates into the battery pack if needs be) - and the change-over can be easily made in the dark courtesy of the quick-turn finger nuts.

I'm not used to shooting with a 'lamp man' and didn't feel comfortable picking off the rabbits in 'someone else's' beam, but Tony took to shooting quite easily. (Maybe I'm a better lamp man than him!)

We took it in turns to walk the fields with the gun, but while Tony preferred shooting with me lamping the ground, I preferred my time with the lamp on-gun.

Though it was probably too bright a night for productive lamping, there was enough of a breeze to mask our approaches, and we managed to stalk to within range of three or four bunnies - but the final shot let us down. These rabbits didn't seem to stay put in the beam (like they do on my patch), so our shots tended to arrive where the rabbits had been a second before!

Unfortunately, as well as the deer, the Clulite also picked out an active vixen whose calls shadowed us all night long. This was her patch and she clearly didn't want us on it.

A very enjoyable night, all the same - 2 a.m. came upon us before we even knew it...

Hollowpoint Ammo - a big hit?

Hollowpoint airgun ammo - is there any, er..., 'point' to it? Well, that's the question I begged in a recent test session I undertook on behalf of Air Gunner magazine - and my answer's now a resounding 'yes'!

Specifically, I was testing out the .22 calibre version of RWS's Super-H-Point. It's a 14.4 grain hollow-nose version of their Superpoint pellet (only with its nose sliced off and a hole bored into it).

I've assumed hollowpoints are a bit limited in range due to their un-aerodynamic shape - but my test proved quite the contrary. Broadly speaking, they moved only a tad more in the wind by comparison with my usual roundhead brand - but that was probably because the SHP's are much longer (and over a grain lighter).

They had identical trajectories and grouped very well - in a moderate wind - right out to 40 metres. What's more, at this distance they retained over 50 per cent of their muzzle energy.

Impact tests proved their hollow-nosed design did make them 'mushroom' on impact - so with excellent accuracy and good energy retention, the Super-H-Points are certainly a fine all-round field pellet that needn't be confined to close-range ratting work and the like.

Read my much more detailed review in June's Air Gunner magazine, on sale from the first Thursday of May.

Field Kit - a big load!

Hectic work schedules have meant it's been difficult to find time to get out with the airgun - and when I've had a spare day, there's plenty of testing and evaluation to do! Just look at the kit I had to load up only today - five guns, tonnes of accessories, photo kit... and my lunch!

Much of the morning was spent finishing off my evaluation of Range Right's Fast Fire 10 - one of the quickest rifles on the planet (if not the quickest). You'll be able to catch my full review of this amazing take-down, made by London's Phoenix Airguns, in the June issue of Air Gunner (on sale the first Thursday of May). Besides a case, it also comes with a special silencer that incorporates a 'reverse thrust' baffle system to reduce muzzle flip.

Managed to get in a late afternoon session against the magpies. But the two that flighted in - a pair of aggressive males - didn't give me any chance of a shot... even with the Fast Fire 10 in my hands!

A brace of woodies saved the day, however - and I've just breasted them. The wife and I will be having them with a bottle of Chateau Neuf in about an hour's time. Nice...

Neat Pellet Key Fob and Zip Attachment

By way of a visit to this blog, my attention has been brought to this really neat accessory. It's a key-fob turned in the shape of an airgun pellet... and my keys - to the car, house and gun safes - now have a 9.5 mm. Air Arms Field dangling from them!

They're made by keen UK airgunner Andy Perkins - and as well as a selection of 'old favourites', he'll even hand-turn a pellet up in your chosen brand. Super-H-Point, AccuPell... no problem for handy Andy!

He makes them in two sizes - 9.5 mm. and 15 mm. - and he got the idea when he couldn't grasp his zip toggles when wearing his shooting gloves. Hey... that's another great idea for these pellet fobs...

For something that's hand-turned, they're certainly excellent value. Inclusive of postage, they cost £4.50 (9.5 version) and £7.00 (15 version). Bargain! (And for a bit more, he'll also post internationally.)

They're pretty much the best 'custom' key-fob holders you'll get - so why not grab one for yourself? Contact Andy via e-mail here.

Great Ratting Combos

Rats are a favourite quarry of airgun hunters - and over the past few weeks, I've had a couple of superb ratting rigs on test. Ultra-light and very compact, this PCP pair is just the ticket for a fast-action scaly-tail op.

Brocock Contour (£375)

I had a great rat session down the farm the other week with this single-shot PCP rifle. It's a tiny affair - an uprated version of their Grand Prix pistol with a longer barrel and dressed in a sumptuous thumbhole walnut stock.

It handles like a dream, though, and is just the ticket for farmyard hunting, when you're scrambling over machinery and shooting in confined spaces. It's also very quick to bring onto target - and you can read how it coped on the trail of a scaly-tail in the next issue of Sporting Shooter.

FX Airguns Verminator (£799)

Another real shorty, this Swedish-built PCP take-down comes to the UK courtesy of Deben - and boy does it have a performance bigger than its appearance!

Filled up at the front, the air's stored in the buddy bottle that doubles up as a butt - so you actually get around 200 full-power shots in .22 calibre, all recoilless.

The aptly-named Verminator runs an eight-shot, autoloading magazine (removable) which indexes with each pull-back of its sidelever cocking action - and the FX is a dream to handly courtesy of its synthetic drop-down grip and adjustable butt.

I think it needs a silencer, though - its eight-inch barrel certainly barks a fair bit! But you won't need a gunbag - this pocket rocket comes with a hard briefcase style case into which the take-down action and butt fit like a glove.

Best of all, though, is the Verminator's three-way power adjustment. At the flick of a switch, you select either Hi, Med or Lo power (approx. 12, 9 or 7 ft. lbs.), making it the perfect tool for ratting or despatching feral pigeon.

Why perfect? Well, as most rat shooting is undertaken at close-quarters, you don't want too much power. For starters, you risk 'overkill' - something you don't want when sabre-toothed rats are the target! And, secondly, 12 ft. lbs. is way too much oomph when you're shooting inside barns and cattle sheds.

Check out my more detailed evaluation of the FX Verminator in my Test Bench report scheduled for May's Air Gunner magazine.

Airgun Blog - Chart Entry

Well... condsidering my airgun hunting blog is in such early days, I was shocked - but pleasantly surprised - to hear from Kelly Sonora informing me that it's just made an entry in "50 Best Blogs for Gun Enthusiasts"!

If you'd like to look at the other 49, go to here.

Which Calibre? The Allen Adage

The debate over which calibre is best for air rifle hunting has raged for yonks - and it will do forever in my opinion. Those who sit on the fence simply advocate ".177 for feather, .22 for fur".

For most of my hunting life, I've been a .22 man. I tried .177 many times, but kept preferring the extra stopping power of the .22. That was until PCP technology got so good that field accuracy became the best it's ever been since the airgun was invented (some time in the late 16th Century).

Around three years ago, I gave .177 another 'go'... and this time I switched. Indeed, I was rather dumbfounded as to why I'd never stuck with it before.

I've enjoyed three years of extra-long-range hunting with .177. (I dropped a woody at 72 yards a few months back - either a hit or total miss shot!) But where I have noticed a weakness is in the short-range stuff. Sub-30 yards.

So now, my choice comes down to range. I know that 50-yard bunnies drop to my .177 Wolf; I also know that I get too many runners at 20-ish yards. Ditto with the woodies - I often don't get to pick up despite a well-executed neck shot under 30 yards.

The .177's flatter trajectory might make hunting at long range easier, but fore close-range work, the .22's stopping power seems to have the edge for me. That's based on a lot of years' past experience.

So, I've updated the old adage for which airgun calibre is best for hunting:

Hunt with both and forget the fuss... but .177 always for
30-plus!

Reflexogy - The Art of Silence

Non-airgunners often laugh at the thought of attaching a sound moderator to the muzzle of an airgun! But most airgun hunters I know do just that - especially if they're using a PCP with a shortish barrel.

Undoubtedly, hushing-up the report can have advantages when you're hunting with an air rifle. From the hidden depths of a hide, I've often been able to take a second, telling shot at my quarry when the first has sailed harmlessly into the dirt.

Most air rifles come with threaded muzzles - usually 1/2-inch UNF, but there are exceptions - and there are plenty of slide-on muzzle adapters if you need them to marry barrel and silencer.

Typically, you'll pay between £35 and £55 for an airgun silencer (which is unlikely to be proofed, so you can't transfer it to a firearm). Most will significantly cut down muzzle crack. The best are considered to be the Weihrauch and the Logun.

Now add Daystate to that pairing. They have just launched a new Mk4 model of the AirStream Silencer and independent tests have shown it to be the best dB buster of them all - although, at £55, it's also the most expensive.

Called the Reflex by virtue of the fact that its chamber sits back along the barrel, it has a carbon fibre casing inside which is a machined aluminium baffle system and the 1/2-in. UNF thread. Daystate only make it to fit their current models, but they will shortly be bringing out a universal variant for other makes of rifle. It's calibre specific, too - though (as has been pointed out to me), that's one of the characteristics that improves a silencer's efficiency.

Although the unit looks normal length, because of its reflex-style fitting, only around 75mm protrudes forward of the muzzle. I like that. For me, adding a long silencer to a rifle can make it 'feel' a bit difficult to control on aim. It also gives it an incredibly efficient length-to-noise reduction ratio.

Being carbon fibre and ally, it's pretty light, too - so it won't upset the balance of your combo.

Having looked at the figures (see below), I just had to screw one onto my Air Wolf. Although its barrel shroud already doubles as a 'stage one' sound suppression system, the addition of the Reflex was simply stunning. It was like I was shooting at 1.1 ft. lbs., not 11!

It may be expensive, but being the best that's out there, why shouldn't it be? Worth the extra, I'd say...

FIGURES FROM INDEPENDENT SOUND METER TESTS (Supplied by Manufacturer)

decibel (dB) output from a .177 calibre Daystate Huntsman Classic

• Reflex - 61.3 dB


• John Bowkett Long - 63.7 dB


• Ripley Rifles (9-inch!) - 65.1 dB


• Weihrauch - 65.5 dB


• Logun QGS - 66.1 dB


• Parker-Hale MM1 - 69.5 dB


• Manders - 69.7 dB

My Realtree Deerhunter Ram Jacket

"You'll catch your death out there," said Mrs. Allen as I togged up to go hunting in the white-out. She had a point - I still had the last throes of a flu bout and the thermometer wasn't set to rise much above zero all day.

But the truth of the matter is I don't get cold at all these days - and our icy spell of weather has really brought home to me just how good my favourite winter hunting outfit is.

It's a Deerhunter Ram Jacket and Trousers set, in Realtree's High Definition All Purpose Green (APG-HD) pattern. I wrote about this high-tech cammo system when I was editor of Air Gunner magazine (December 2007 edition). Its 'layered', three-dimensional appearance really does work and I've had more close encounters with wildlife in this than any other gear.

In that article, I only touched on the actual Ram suit - but having worn it extensively through two winters, I felt I should give an update.

Without question, it's the best cold-weather outfit I've ever worn. I've never got cold in it and I've never got wet in it - even though I've worn it in sub-zero temperatures, biting cold nor'easterlies and torrential down-pours. I was able to kneel and crawl in the slushy snow only yesterday without feeling any dampness against my skin - as has always been the case when I've hunted over wet, boggy ground.


It doesn't come cheap - it's about £145 for the jacket and £85 for the trousers - but that gets you an extreme weather outfit in the very latest cammo. It'll be the best 230-quid you'll ever spend, I guarantee. (I'm nothing to do with Realtree, by the way!)

Even though the advanced Deer-Tex polyester cloth from which it's made feels very thin and flimsy, I can vouch that it's been robust enough to withstand hours of very rough field use. It's got caught in brambles and on barbed wire fences, but there's not a single rip in it. I've rinsed it in clear water a couple of times - more for hygene purposes than cleaning - and it's not faded in any way.

I refer to Deer-Tex as 'advanced' because it's one of these new-fangled materials which combines its outer with a thin membrane and inner liner that stops wind and rain getting in, whilst at the same time allowing the cloth to breathe. The upshot of all this textile technology is that you don't roast, nor get sweaty and uncomfortable.

The Trousers: Zip-fly, they come with Velcro ankle straps to keep out the muck and wind - and the legs are wide enough to pull over thick wellies. Plenty of pockets - large and small, some with popper closure - and a high, fleece-lined waistband at the rear to keep the small of your back cosy.

The Jacket: It's got pockets galore, complete with hand-warmers. Some zipped, some flapped... and there's even a bino-pouch. All the poppers (as on the trousers) are silicone coated, so they won't scratch your rifle's woodwork, nor make a noise under field conditions.

Its front zip is a heavy-duty job, and two-way so that you can unzip from the bottom when you're shooting on horse-back! (Really, though, it's handy sometimes when you're kneeling.) The zip runs all the way up to the high collar which contains a fold-out, removable draw-string storm hood. This is so big, I've even used it as a face veil.

The adjustable drawstring waist and hem add to the prodection offered by the storm flaps, and there are Velcro fasteners on the cuffs. Inside is a separate waist warmer to keep your back toasty plus an ample game pocket at the rear. The inner lining also has a fold-down, padded seat to stop your bum getting mucky when sitting, and I've found this invaluable when hide shooting. (It saves you getting seat covers for the car, too!).

The jacket's right shoulder has an anti-slip rubber pad sewn-in to support your rifle sling and as warm as the coat is, should you find yourself over-heating, each underarm has a zippered vent.

Both jacket and trousers are incredibly light which makes wearing them a pleasure. What's more, they've been cleverly tailored, specifically with shooting in mind. Unlike many hunting jackets, the cut is such that I've never had any problem shouldering my rifle whilst wearing the Ram

As a long-term user of one, I can't recommend the Ram Suit highly enough.

For more info on Deerhunter, visit the Deerhunter site (here) and for a closer look at my jacket's Realtree APG-HD pattern, the direct link is here.

On the right tracks...

Don't let the current cold snap put you off getting out with your airgun - because you'll be missing out on discovering some of your shoot's innermost secrets!

In my part of the world, so far we've been lucky. No more than 7 cm. of snow. It's still brought the region to a grinding halt, mind you. Traffic chaos; panic buying; schools closed and local radio programmes announcing in almost Dictator-like fashion: "Stay in your homes!"

Not me. I loaded up the car and headed off to one of my farms. For 'headed', read 'skated, skidded and slid'! But I made it in one piece and enjoyed a great few hours of walkabout with my Theoben in what turned out to be quite a warm and sunny winter's day.

There wasn't as much quarry about as I'd expected. The magpies were scavenging, but the crows remained in their woodland roosts. The woodies were tight into the ivy on the usual trees and very few bunnies had ventured above ground.

As I've written in Sporting Shooter magazine, there aren't a great deal of rabbits on my patch and those that I know of need to be taken out at pretty long ranges.

But the snow revealed a picture of this farm that I had never imagined. There are rabbits (or hares, perhaps?) aplenty... and a lot closer to the farmyard than I'd imaged.

Criss-crossing the fields were the tell-tale signs of foxes, badgers, deer... and oh so many rabbits. Great news for when the warmer months arrive - and although I've never seen any here in daylight hours, I now know where to set up with my lamp!

Rabbits certainly seem to travel a long way. I tracked one set of bunny-prints two fields and two paddock areas - more than 600 yards - before I lost them in a hedgerow. Amazingly, this particular bunny chose to go through gate entrances, rather than through bolt-holes in the hedgerow (which other rabbits clearly favoured). It was exactly the route a human would have taken when travelling between these two points!

I didn't get a shot off, but it was by no means a wasted foray. I've taken note of a good few rabbit routes, warren entrances and mid-field stop-off points on a patch of land I only hitherto used for zeroing.

I feel like I've got a brand new permission and can't wait for my first sortie on it...